From John Bondfield

[dateline] Bordeaux 2 Jan. 1781

[salute] Sir

A Vessel that left Annapolis in Virginia arrived at this port yesterday.

The English under Col. Leslie enterd the Bay and landed at Hampton, they retreated
a few days after, leaving their Camp Kettles and other Baggage in Camp. Their precipitate
retreat is supposed from Advices received of the Landing of a considerable Body of
French Troops at George Town in South Carolina. Lord Cornwallis was also obliged to
call in all his out Posts to avoid being Cut off and was confind to a small Circuit
round Charles Town. We suppose these Troops formd from a detatchment from the Cape.
Mention is also made of some ships being taken off Charles Town by the Squadron that
transported these Troops.1

The declaration of England has created great ferment in the Commercial Line owing
to the General Obstruction which in consiquence takes place on all that extensive
Neutral Navigation. The Dutch will be able to employ the greatest part of their Navy
to the Northward. The Southern and American Seas will be no longer a contested point
{ 9 } for the House of Bourbon and we flatter ourselves to see hereby a speedy acknowledgement
on the most firm Basis of the Independance of America by the whole United Powers in
the World.

[salute] With due respect I have the Honor to be Sir Your most Obedient & Most Humble Servant

1. In late Oct. 1780 a force under the command of Gen. Alexander Leslie entered Chesapeake
Bay and subsequently captured Portsmouth, Va. The purpose of the attack was to divert
forces that might otherwise be used against Cornwallis, but Leslie's lack of aggressiveness
diminished its impact. Then, after only a month in the field, Leslie's force reembarked
in order to go to the aid of Cornwallis in the wake of Maj. Patrick Ferguson's defeat
at the Battle of King's Mountain on 7 Oct. (Robert Fallaw and Marion West Stoer, “The
Old Dominion Under Fire: The Chesapeake Invasion, 1779–1781,” in Ernest M. Eller,
ed., Chesapeake Bay in the American Revolution, Centreville, Md., 1981, p. 453–458; vol. 10:303).